by Michael Todd
“Well, you’re welcome to look, but I doubt we’ll find anything,” Xander responded as he started a heater plate for his dinner.
She gave Sal a knowing smile. “Oh, I think we’ll figure something out. Right, Jacobs?”
“There’s no telling what you’ll find in the Zoo. It’s best to go in with an open mind.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
With the help from Kennedy’s sat phone, they managed to make everyone happy before they left the Zoo and reached the construction site where they’d left their JLTV. They’d found more Pita plants that were only a few minutes out of their original path. The haul from that brought enough goodwill from the new squad that they could ask them not to mention the detour Sal and Kennedy had taken.
The team was more than happy to oblige. It had been a while since they’d gone on a bounty run, and a little pocket cash was welcome.
By tacit agreement, the partners didn’t mention the fact that they were able to track the plants. They had earned goodwill by appealing to the men’s greedy natures, but it would take far more to buy their silence over a potentially game-changing discovery.
They told the group they’d run into the plants while scouting to verify the extent of the cliff. Sal wasn’t sure their companions bought it, but with enough spending money for at least a couple of trips to the bar, they left it at that.
It took most of the day to position the last motion sensors along the wall and return to the construction site. Sal gathered footage of the cliff to take to the heads of development at the Staging Area. They’d know what to do with it. He wasn’t an architect, engineer, or physicist and didn’t have to come up with solutions to a jungle that could undermine walls. It was better to take Kennedy’s advice and make as much money as he could while he tried to keep the goop at bay.
Sal looked back as they drove to the Staging Area. It was strange that they couldn’t see the drop, and that satellite images hadn’t identified the moving cliff. Then again, he couldn’t see anything, and he was a good deal closer than a satellite would be. The goop seemed to mask the advance of its cliff frighteningly well.
He still found it difficult to attribute this degree of intelligence to what was basically fertilizer from space. But at that point, what harm was there in crazy and paranoid since the best-case scenario was that he was wrong and the worst case was that he was right?
Both cases, good and bad, were entirely subjective. But he really, really liked being right, even if it was a particularly terrifying prospect.
They arrived at the Staging Area as the sun set and reached the commandant’s office while it painted all kinds of red and orange over the sky. Sal was thankful that they wouldn’t spend another night in the Zoo, but he could still appreciate the sight of the sun setting over the massive green blanket where there had once been desert.
There were interesting conflicts in the whole situation. This goop was actually a solution to many of the world’s problems, most of them man-made. It would help people live longer, and it created life in what had once been the largest barren expanse in the world.
The only problem was that it appeared to dislike humans and was intent on murdering them at every turn. That was a real problem and one that needed a solution, but killing the goop off seemed like a bad idea.
Then again, was killing it even possible? There would be idiots who wanted to try, though, and to whom the big picture meant nothing. Of that, he could be certain.
They stepped out of the JLTV, and Sal peeled his armor off as Kennedy and Xander stepped inside to file the mission reports before the office closed down for the night. Sal didn’t want to return in the morning to declare their earnings. His body demanded that he go home and sleep, preferably for a couple of days. It had been a comparatively boring trip, but he was still exhausted.
One of the officials came out of the building.
“Salinger Jacobs?” he asked.
Sal paused his attempt to take his geek suit off. “That’s me.”
“PFC Aaron Marshall. I’m with the commandant’s office. I understand that you and Sergeant Kennedy were last-minute additions to the squad sent on a routine sweep?”
“That’s right.” He cleared his throat. “We got the go-ahead from Sergeant Xander to join. We needed to do a quick resource acquisition run anyway, and it seemed the squad was a little short-handed.”
“No need to justify it,” Marshall said and peered at the pad in his hands. He was young, barely out of his teens, and while he was taller than Sal, he was thin enough that his uniform hung off him as it would off a scarecrow. “The commandant’s office welcomes and encourages freelancers to lend a hand on our missions. We’ve been a bit short-handed lately, and while petitions have gone out for more personnel, we’re grateful for any help we can get.”
Sal nodded and waited for the inevitable “however” he knew would come.
“However,” Marshall continued, “I’m sure you understand that our budget doesn’t allow for a specialist’s salary on a mission that didn’t require one. It’s a logistical issue that would raise a lot of flags we simply can’t afford at the moment.”
Sal nodded again.
“You have to understand, we appreciate the work you put into it. Your research is valuable, and you’ll be paid full price for it as well as the bounty on the flowers. Kennedy also said you brought in a potential new source of revenue. While it will have to be verified by our labs, I’m sure our sponsors will be more than happy to pay top dollar.”
Sal glanced at the door as Kennedy stepped out. She saw him talking to Marshall and her expression soured.
“No, I understand completely. Logistics can be a bitch.”
The man looked relieved. “We appreciate your understanding, Mr. Jacobs. Your gunner’s salary should be in your account tomorrow morning.”
“You have yourself a nice evening, Marshall.”
“Thanks,” the PFC said and marched back into the building behind him.
“Can you believe that bullshit?” Kennedy asked once Marshall was out of earshot. “I mean, I know we agreed to gunners’ salaries, but you brought some fairly alarming news for the whole operation here, and they can’t spare a little extra for that?”
Sal chuckled. “It’s what we agreed to. We can’t complain about getting less than what they offered, right?”
“Like hell, we can’t,” she retorted, but she didn’t seem determined to push the point.
“Look, we walked away with what we went out there for.” He nodded toward the armor. “We saved ourselves a hefty payment right there. Boulos will probably charge for the extra fixings and everything, but it’s still worthwhile. Plus all the sets we brought back, plus that…sack of stuff from the big critter. All in all, I’d say that it was a damn good two-days’ work. Wouldn’t you?”
Kennedy narrowed her eyes at him. “The Jacobs I know would complain about everything right about now. He’d grump about not getting fair pay along with having to march through a jungle in a suit of armor that didn’t fit him. Who are you, and what have you done with that guy?”
Sal shrugged and smiled at the backhanded compliment. “I told you. I’m trying to turn over a new leaf. I feel better about this whole situation. Not great, but better. Besides, why are you complaining? I would have thought you’d approve of the brand new me.”
“Well, I don’t dislike this new you,” she said with a begrudging smile. “Ugh, fine, we’ll look on the bright side. I turned our stuff in, and they said they’d give us an answer on that new sac thing tomorrow. How confident are you that it’ll be something they’ll want?”
“Worst case, it’ll be a new anatomical discovery about the animal, and they have bounties on that too. It’s not as substantial, but it’s something.” Sal rubbed to ease the stiffness in his sore shoulder. “Best case, that sac looked like it had enough goop in it to equal three or four sets of flowers. They’ll probably stiff us on it, but it’s a new source of revenue, which means more money fo
r us. They’re happy, and I’m richer. I can live with that.”
Kennedy shook her head. “I’ve got to say, I like this new side of you.”
Sal shrugged. “Well, you’d better get used to it. It looks like this new me is here to stay. Now, let’s get the suit to Boulos so he can work on it first thing and we can get some sleep.”
“That’s the most reasonable thing I’ve heard you say all week.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
“Come on,” Kennedy protested. “You told us you’d do this when you sold us the GPS coordinates. We’ve already settled what we owed on the suit. Why can’t you call it even?”
“It needs new air filters,” Boulos pointed out. “Unless you want to smell dead corpse all day when you wear it. I can’t justify that with the price you paid. I’ll fix the broken sensors, that was the deal, but the new air filters will cost the same amount you’ve already paid, and I won’t even charge you for the labor.”
Sal sighed and rolled his eyes. They had gone to the labs first, but there had been no final word on the sac yet. It contained the kind of liquid the corporations were willing to pay for, but they’d need to conduct a long distilling process to see how much they were willing to pay. Kennedy had gone off on the corporate assistant who had delivered the news to the point where Sal almost felt bad for him.
He was two days into owning his own company, and he needed his bottom line to be as impressive as possible. If they kept him waiting for weeks—or, God forbid, months—he’d have to run into the Zoo a few more times to make a profit.
As bets went, it wasn’t terrible. In the long run, it was not that bad an idea, since the weeks it took for the higher-ups to approve it as a new revenue stream meant more time for them to gather them. It would mean hunting those big fuckers, but hey, they’d been through worse, right? It was doable.
On second thought, Sal decided they should avoid it. The last time someone had shot one of those creatures in the middle of the Zoo, they’d barely escaped with their lives.
He sighed again and leaned back in his seat. It had been a decent payday, but all the fees needed to open the business had sapped his resources. He didn’t have much money left after the armor payment, and now they had to pay more on top of that.
Kennedy was good at haggling for a lower price, and he really hoped she could manipulate Boulos’ avarice and business knowledge to bring the cost down or his rent would slide for the next month or so.
“Come on, Kennedy,” Boulos said and looked up from tinkering with the suit. “I have a business to run here. I can’t give free parts away. I have a bottom line too. I have a CEO looking over my shoulder to make sure I turn a profit or I lose my job.”
“It’s bullshit and you know it, Boulos,” she retorted. “You’ve already made a sizeable profit off the suit. I’m sure your profit margin can take the hit.”
“You know it can’t,” he muttered.
“You have to meet us halfway,” Sal interjected finally. “We’ll bring you a lot of new business.”
“Yeah,” Kennedy agreed. Her face said she’d had an idea. Boulos noticed and scowled.
“What are you thinking?” he asked Kennedy.
“Well, if you can cut the cost for the repairs to a third of the price you gave me, I’d be more inclined to drop a decent amount on a new geek suit for this one.” She nodded toward Sal. “Something top-of-the-line, along with a full complement of weapons and ammo for the both of us. You can tell that CEO who’s looking over your shoulder that you gave us the cut in price because we bought a lot of stuff along with this. A warehouse discount, as it were.”
Boulos frowned, although he looked willing to consider it.
“Hey, Beesley!” the man finally called, and one of the young men who worked for him jogged from the other side of the warehouse.
“Yeah, boss?” the young redhead asked and brushed his long hair from his face as he approached.
“Keep working on this suit.” Boulos pushed it toward him. “I need it ready to go by this afternoon. It needs new air filters, and we should give the HUD a workover too. Some of the sensors were damaged.”
“You got it, boss.”
Kennedy grinned and winked at Sal, who looked incredulously at her as they followed Boulos to the sales counter.
“How can we afford all this?” Sal asked in a hushed whisper. “I didn’t make enough to afford another suit, and certainly not top-of-the-line.”
“I’m paying for it, moron,” Kennedy said, her grin firmly in place. “I made money off this last trip too. And I need to invest into Heavy Metal, so if you shut your trap, we can do some business and walk away from this whole thing ready to make runs into the Zoo without having to rent equipment.”
Sal nodded. “Wow. That’s really generous of you.”
She shrugged. “You got the suit out for me. That means I’m with you on this, for better or worse. We have to handle this shit together, or it won’t work. Consider this part of my investment in Heavy Metal—and stop looking at me like I gave you the best blowjob of your life.”
He looked away. “Sorry. I… It wasn’t… Well, I was grateful, but not that grateful. Not like a blowjob or anything like that.”
She winked at him and grinned. “Sure.”
Again, he wasn’t sure how to respond to that. He found her really difficult to read. He thought they had a good dialogue and chemistry, and he didn’t want to ruin that. In cases like these, it was better to err on the side of caution, right?
Sal realized he was out of his element in more ways than one as Kennedy moved past him to talk to Boulos.
The haggling went on for a little longer, but since Boulos had dropped the price to a fourth of what he’d originally cited, she chose a new sidearm for herself, since the suit already came with its own rifle, and one of the smaller assault rifles for Sal to use in the field. She told him that she’d help him practice and get used to it before they went out again. A new suit for him and a veritable crap-ton of ammo set Kennedy back just over fifteen thousand dollars.
As investments into small startups went, it was one of the biggest Sal had ever seen. She was certainly doubling down on her interest in staying with Sal and Heavy Metal.
It was a working title, he realized. He hadn’t decided how well he liked it and it waned and waxed depending on the time of day.
Hours passed as she dug relentlessly for better prices from Boulos until both were marginally satisfied. Kennedy transferred what she owed, and Sal added enough to cover the filters for the armor and some of the smaller items. She protested, but in the end, they were both invested.
“All right,” Boulos said. “I’ll finish the suit tomorrow, and I’ll deliver it with the rest of your order. A pleasure doing business with you, Kennedy.”
She shook the man’s hand firmly. “You can look forward to more business from us in the future, Boulos. Not because I approve of your stinginess, but because you don’t really have much competition out here.”
He grinned. “You’re a tough sell, Kennedy. I like that in a woman.”
She winked and gestured for Sal to join her as they exited the store.
“That was…intense,” he said as they drove toward Kennedy’s apartment. “Remind me to never get on the wrong side of a negotiation with you.”
She chuckled. “It’s all about the stance. You have to walk the line between a hardass and an innocent victim like an Olympic tightrope. It doesn’t hurt when you have some femininity that you can fall back on.”
“Sadly, I don’t have the…ahem, characteristics to help me with that,” he said with a chuckle as they stopped.
“Yeah, the ladies help too,” She grinned. “You gonna take the JLTV to your place, or will you walk?”
“I’m too tired to walk.” Kennedy slid out, and he climbed over to the driver’s side. “Oh, by the way, while you did your professional haggling, I got a message from the lab. The corporation is willing to pay fifty-nine thousand for the sac. They�
��ll transfer the money to my account tomorrow. I’ll send you your percentage in the morning. Still ten percent?”
Kennedy laughed and punched him in the shoulder. “In your dreams, Jacobs. You gave it to me, remember. This has been a good day, wouldn’t you say?”
Sal nodded. “I have to agree with you on that. I’ll see you tomorrow, Kennedy.”
Epilogue
Sal drove the JLTV to his apartment, and a sense of quiet elation filled his body. He’d felt iffy about striking out on his own, and about he and Kennedy standing up for themselves in this brave new world. In the beginning, he’d had moments of uncertainty about Kennedy, but for the life of him, he couldn’t remember why. For some odd reason, she seemed to have his back. Things would probably get tougher over the next few weeks, but he felt he could handle it now. They had the supplies, armor, weapons, and tools they would need to last, and were both competent enough to use that leverage to reach great new heights.
He could barely keep the grin off his face as he drew the JLTV to a halt outside his apartment and pressed the dashboard button to clock himself out. They would charge him extra to send someone to pick it up, but he could afford to splurge now.
The apartment was blissfully cool after the blistering mid-afternoon heat. He sighed and drew in slow, deep breaths as he moved to the bathroom, peeled his clothes off, and turned the water to lukewarm. He stepped into the stream, closed his eyes, and let the shower strip his worries away. Not all the stress from the past few months would go. There were things even a shower couldn’t cure, but on the whole, the sense that things would work out well restored his peace of mind.
He sighed softly as the water cascaded over his body and relaxed his sore muscles. They had noticeably improved over the past few months. Gone was the skinny, vitamin-D-deficient genius who had complained about being dragged from his miserable existence in California. He still wasn’t the stud that the male personnel on the base seemed to be, but he would get there. Baby steps. He had something that resembled a six-pack, and where there had once been flab, sharp definition had begun to sculpt his hips and chest. He wasn’t a soldier yet, but one day, he might be.